The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for automatically controlling illuminance and, more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically controlling illuminance, which is used for Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lighting.
In the past, incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps have been mainly used as lighting devices. However, incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps have relatively high power consumption compared to lighting efficiency, and consume 2 trillion 100 billion kWh of power annually by internal lighting equipment. This corresponds to 12 to 15% of gross power consumption, and also results in 1.7 billion tons of CO2 being emitted each year. Further, since such a fluorescent lamp is manufactured using mercury and the lifespan thereof is short, the fluorescent lamp must be frequently replaced, so unless it is properly taken away and discarded, the problem of environmental pollution may also seriously emerge. Due to these problems, recently, environmental restriction has been intensified all over the world in such a way as to pass a bill that would result in the prohibition of the sale of incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps in some countries.
Therefore, lighting using a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) that has excellent energy saving effects and environment-friendly characteristics has recently attracted attention. Such LED lighting has a long lifespan, high luminance, and low power consumption, thus obtaining the effect of energy saving. The excellence of LED lighting is widely known in such a way as to predict that, if 30% of current domestic lighting were to be replaced with LED lighting by 2015, it would result in the saving of about 16 billion kWh of power and the reduction of about 6.8 million tons of CO2 emissions per year. Further, an LED lamp is regarded as a means for replacing a downlight or the like, which has been implemented as an incandescent lamp or a halogen lamp among typical lighting units.
As shown in FIG. 1, current LED lighting is configured such that only a lamp is replaced with an LED lamp 14 while a lighting switch 11, lighting wiring 12, and a socket 13 used in existing incandescent lamps or fluorescent lamps are used without change. Such LED lighting can control only the ON/OFF operation of the LED lamp 14 using the lighting switch 11 that has been previously used and cannot control the illuminance thereof.
Due thereto, as shown in FIG. 2, LED lighting enabling illuminance to be controlled is configured to further include an illuminance control switch 21, illuminance control wiring 22, a control device 23, and an LED lamp 24, separately from the existing lighting switch 11 and the existing lighting wiring 12.
That is, the LED lighting 24 is ON/OFF controlled using the lighting switch 11, and the illuminance of the LED lamp 24 is controlled using the illuminance control switch 21. Then, the control device 23 is subjected to the ON/OFF control of the lighting switch 11 and the illuminance control of the illuminance control switch 21, and then drives the LED lamp 24.
Such conventional LED lighting enabling illuminance to be controlled is problematic in that additional wiring construction must be conducted separately from the existing lighting wiring 12, and in that construction for installing additional switches must be conducted, thus complicating the overall installation and increasing the cost thereof.